Supporters gather at West Ashley coffee shop to 'Save Veronica'

People who want to see a 2-year-old girl reunited with her adoptive parents on James Island gathered at Local coffee shop in West Ashley this afternoon and again at Colonial Lake this evening for a candlelight ceremony.

James Island residents Matt and Melanie Capobianco adopted Veronica at birth, but Dusten Brown, a 30-year-old Oklahoma man and registered member of the Cherokee Nation, filed for paternity and custody four months later.

Brown won custody of Veronica under the Indian Child Welfare Act, a federal law designed to preserve Native American families. The case now rests in the S.C. Supreme Court.

Supporters who came out to Local bid on massages, sail cruises and vacation packages in a silent auction. They purchased art depicting the curly-haired toddler and the Folly Boat painted with the “Save Veronica” message.

They made $10 donations to help offset the Capobiancos’ mounting legal bills. And they many of them wore purple, Veronica’s favorite color.

Melanie Capobianco spoke at the candlelight ceremony, thanking the crowd for their support. Luminaries lit a path around the lake, 29 in all — one for each day since Veronica left Charleston.

“We’re trying to remain strong in the belief that our little girl, our sweet Veronica Rose, will come home, but it’s been difficult,” Melanie Capobianco said. “We miss her so much.”

Read more in Sunday’s editions of The Post and Courier.

Reach Allyson Bird at 937-5594 or on Twitter at @allysonjbird.